Airports across the country are starting to ban 'smart baggage' — here's what you need to know

Smart bags with built-in Lithium-Ion batteries have
officially been banned from all airlines.

The global ban will start on January 15,
2018.

The exception to the ban is any luggage which is
equipped with an easily removable battery.

Maybe scratch “smart baggage” off your Christmas list — unless
you've checked if it will be approved in the new year.

Equipping luggage with built-in, highly flammable, lithium-ion
batteries was never a good idea, but that didn’t stop some
manufacturers from trying. So-called smart baggage has found a
market niche among techie travelers by offering features like GPS
tracking, enough smartphone re-charging power to get you to your
destination and beyond, even a dubious method of transport around
the terminal.

But the heydays of electronic luggage are at an end, at least for
smart bags with built-in Lithium-Ion batteries.

The industry had resolved to ban smart bags by 2019, but
because the risks of uncontrollable fire in the aircraft hold —
out of sight of cabin crew and beyond their reach to extinguish
it — are causing great concern, American
Airlines decided to ban the bags last
week, soon followed by Delta and Alaska.

On Wednesday, during a special cargo session at the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) headquarters in
Geneva, the association confirmed that it will take steps to
recommend a global ban of smart bags starting on Jan. 15, 2018.
A formal legal ban, by the U.N. International Civil Aeronautics
Organization (ICAO), will follow at the beginning of 2019.

All airlines will have to comply with ICAO’s ban, but
many airlines around the world will likely go ahead and
implement a ban after the IATA notice in January. The decision
to ban smart bags has actually been in the works for a while,
with airlines and regulators expressing concern over
lithium-ion batteries packed in luggage even before any
smart-bag Kickstarter campaigns took off.

While there aren’t any specific regulations governing the
design and manufacturing of luggage, concern has reached a
point where ICAO, working with aviation regulators, airlines,
and IATA, felt that they had to take action. The risks are very
real. If damaged, these batteries can enter a state called
“thermal runaway,” generating enough heat to catch fire that
runs hot enough to burn through the fire-proof cargo containers
on planes. If those fires and the battery fumes make contact
with commonly packed items, like a can of hairspray or
deodorant spray, they can set off an explosion powerful enough
to do irrevocable damage to an aircraft.

These were the findings of the Federal Aviation
Administration after extensive testing, which prompted a
reversal of the security-based requirements to check laptops
and large electronics on some flights earlier this year, and
instead resulted in a ban on checking large electronics in
luggage.

The exception to the new smart luggage ban is any luggage
which is equipped with an easily removable battery. That is
only if the battery can be separated from the bag at any point
that the airline requires it. If the battery is permanently
attached to the luggage, or if it cannot easily be taken out,
then it’s a no-go, even if you don’t plan to check it.

“The concern that airlines have is that power banks [like those
installed on smart bags] have features prominently in fire
incidents onboard,” said IATA’s David Brennan, who specializes
in policies on the carriage of dangerous goods by air. “It’s
something that airlines have been talking about for some time.”

The second reason airlines are opting for an outright ban is
that on a crowded flight, when bin space runs out, passengers
may have to check bags. Airlines don’t want to have to refuse
to carry customer luggage at the gate. To avoid problems,
airlines ask passengers to leave problematic baggage at home.

“What you don’t want is an argument with the passenger. Better
to tell passengers up front in advance,” Brennan said.

He also said the ban will not extend to otherwise ordinary
luggage with smart features — like electronic bag tags —
because the batteries that power those are very small.

The changes in policy — first the laptop ban and now the smart
baggage ban — might be confusing to travelers, but the laptop
ban was a unilateral decision taken by the U.S. and U.K.
governments based on intelligence of threats to flights,
without first consulting airlines. Those policies were later
reversed and replaced with new security procedures, once all
parties shared information. The smart baggage ban is unlikely
to be reversed because the risks are well known. The policy is
drafted by airlines and regulators based on ongoing
flight-safety concerns.

So what do you do if you already have a smart bag?

If you already own smart baggage check to see if the battery is
easily removable. If the battery requires hardware to remove
it, or can’t quickly be taken out of the bag, then your safest
bet is to use that bag for road trips, or on a cruise. Use a
different bag when flying.